Page 102 of Cole

“And when you’re not home?”

“Depending where I am, I usually have Dawn and possibly one other person with me. I am also armed most of the time.”

“You were armed at the gala?”

“I was, yes.”

“And at the ice cream parlor?”

“Yes.”

Annie’s shoulders slumped as if she thought her answers would disappoint him.

“That’s awesome,” he said. “I’m glad you know how to take care of yourself.”

Her brows lifted. “I also am trained in Krav Maga. So even if I don’t have a gun, I am not unarmed.”

“That’s good to know,” Cole said, having a super hard time imagining Annie fighting someone or shooting a gun. “It sounds like you could be my bodyguard. Want a job?”

Annie laughed. “Maybe I could pose as your bodyguard. That would give us an excuse to be together.”

“Nope. I don’t want to hide who you are to me.” He paused, thinking back over everything that he’d learned during their conversation. Lifting his notebook, Cole said, “But your dad isn’t going to think this is enough, is he?”

“Probably not,” Annie said with a frown. “But we have to start somewhere. We propose something to him and then hope he’s willing to negotiate. I’ve never really thought too much about how my dad does business. If he’s a negotiator or not.”

Cole was pretty sure that Duncan Burke hadn’t gotten to where he was without being an astute businessman and a stellar negotiator. Thinking about his business savvy brought another thought to mind.

“Did you know that your dad has some sort of financial stake in my team?”

Annie’s eyes went round. “He does?”

“You didn’t know?”

“I had no clue,” Annie said.

“It was how he threatened my career,” Cole explained. “By insinuating that he had the power to dictate the terms of my next contract.”

“That is ridiculous,” Annie said, angrier than Cole had ever seen her. “I can’t believe he bought into the team and then used that to his advantage to threaten you.”

“I think it’s safe to say that your dad will do whatever he has to in order to keep you safe.”

“That’s becoming very clear, but it also worries me. Is there a line he won’t cross?”

Cole didn’t have an answer for her. She knew her dad better than he did. But from where Cole stood, there didn’t appear to be an uncrossable line for the man.

Annie’s anger faded away, settling into sadness. “He holds all the cards. He doesn’t have to agree with anything. I could walk away from him, leaving him with no control over me, but he could still come down hard on you. Are we just deluding ourselves that we can work this out?”

“I don’t want to think we are,” Cole said. Once she’d shown that she wanted to work things out, it had lit a fire in him that he didn’t want to put out. “I want us to find a way to move forward together.”

Now that he’d experienced life without her, he didn’t want to do that again. She’d been the one to reach out to him, even though he should have done it. He didn’t want her to lose faith in them now.

“I want that too, but he just wields so much more power than I’d realized.”

“He probably never wanted you to know the lengths he was going to, or was willing to go to, in order to keep you safe.”

“And you’re sure you want to get mixed up in his world?” Annie asked. “Because I’m not sure I want to be here myself. Unfortunately, I don’t have a choice.”

“Yes.” Cole’s voice was firm. “I want to be in his world if it means I can be with you.”

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